


Art of The Slothful

by SheSaidWhaaat



Category: Kirby (Video Games)
Genre: How Do I Tag, fair amount of kirby and meta knight mentor/student fluff, how to rotate text in ms paint, this is...different
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:47:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27947789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheSaidWhaaat/pseuds/SheSaidWhaaat
Summary: Meta Knight, mind you, the same guy who tried to take over to end Dreamland's lazy lifestyle, must learn to be lazy himself in order to reach a balance. Not only that, but his life depends on it. Luckily enough for him, he knows the perfect teacher. (Gameverse and Animeverse Mix)Yes, I copied this right from my FFNET, and you can't stop me, HA HA!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	1. Beginnings

On a quiet morning in Dreamland, you'd usually expect the sound of the birds singing, the peaceful townsfolk waking up and doing their daily-do's, and the ever constant lively energy no matter where you tread. Dreamland is a great place to be...if you're not Meta Knight. Though his opinion has changed since the loss of his crew (except Sailor Dee) and the Halberd, the citizens will always remember him for one event; 'The Revenge of Meta Knight'. Meta Knight as a person has gotten mixed reactions from the residents. There are some who think he's evil, some who think he's done nothing wrong, and some rightfully in-between. He himself was used to it and didn't truly care of who they thought he was. If anyone asked what he thought about it, the reply would always be "Nobody is perfect."

But maybe if they knew the reason why he wanted to take over Dreamland in the first place, maybe then he would be seen as not evil, but simply misunderstood.

You see, Meta Knight, compared to just about anyone else who lives in Dreamland, is a definite outcast, the odd one out if you will. He simply just did not fit according to the lazy lifestyle of other Dreamlanders. Though he wasn't mocked or ridiculed for it, he feared one day it would have a negative impact on him as well, which was the opposite of what he wanted for himself. The knight was a naturally active spirit, though he personally thought relaxing was a waste of precious life, he understood that everyone needed a balance...everyone except him...and that's where the mistakes were made. The knight hadn't had a break since he was a baby, every day was an adventure, every day had to be an adventure if it was going to be interesting. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but if you overdo it, it's a problem. When you're a Kiridian, however, it's a serious problem. And here, in his apartment in Dedede Castle, today, that finally hit him.

"Sailor Dee?" the knight sighed,

"Yes sir?" she said as she was dipping a tea bag in some water,

"I have decided I am not doing anything for the rest of this weekend."

She froze for a minute, she looked more concerned than confused by that, "Why?"

"Because it is a required resting period I've bypassed for far too long." Meta Knight said, "If I may inform, Kirdians usually have "hibernation" periods. Except mainly around this time frame, rather than sleeping, we just become a lot more sluggish and more likely to sleep. It is apart of the reason me and Kirby do not train on weekends, it's better if he rests."

"But, commander, I haven't—if I ever—seen you go through that!" she said, "If I had hands, I could count all the times on one hand I've ever seen you remotely sluggish!"

"As stated, I have bypassed it for a long time. I constantly fight, train, and keep my mind active, and it keeps my adrenaline flowing, so I sometimes have restless nights because I don't do it as I should to begin with. And I am afraid it almost is reaching the point where I am completely unable to, no matter how hard I try."

"Well, I-I mean, isn't that kind of a good thing...? Wouldn't it hold you back during adventures?"

"If I am unable to do it permanently..."

The knight whispered something in her ear. Something very, very, VERY unfortunate.

"Oh...Oh sweet NOVA...that's horrible!" Sailor Dee exclaimed,

"Now do you see why this adjustment must be made?"

"Sir, yes sir!" she saluted,

"Wonderful." he smiled nervously from under his mask, "I'll be heading out for a while, not adventuring or anything big, just walking around the plaza."

"Okay, see you in a while, sir!"

Meta Knight exited the building and closed the door with just one thought in mind, "I'm not going to be able to make it through this weekend, am I?"

Meta Knight wrapped himself in his cape and solemnly went out into the ever-busy plaza, he gripped his cape a little tighter in nervousness, he hated large crowds. Going as far to say is that he was very insecure being in one. He tried to get through it without any nervous reaction and tried his best not to make eye contact with anyone he didn't immediately recognize. And there was someone he did recognize, but it was the last person he wanted to see, he tried to breeze past him but the knight stopped at the sound of a proud chuckle and the words, "Yo, Meta Knight!"

He sighed, resisting the urge to groan. The knight walked over to his king slowly.

"Greetings, sire." Meta Knight said, "Didn't expect to see you here..."

"Well, I'm just waitin' on Escargoon to get on 'outta that bakery with my order!" Dedede impatiently grumbled,

"Hm, I see." Meta Knight awkwardly nodded,

Dedede completely disregarded the uninterested energy he gave off, "So, where ya headin' today, blueberry?"

"Nowhere, I'm taking a break this week. I am just...wandering the town...looking for someone..." Meta Knight stated, "Also, do not call me that, I have a name."

"Nowhere? You jestin' me, knight?" Dedede blinked twice in surprise,

"No, and I do not want to talk about it." he started to walk away, but then was stopped as Dedede jeered, "Heh heh heh! Color me surprised! You such a busy bee I wouldn't think you'd know the first thing about relaxing!"

Meta Knight glared back at Dedede, "It's best not to assume things you don't know for certain." he said, trying to keep his usual calm tone.

Dedede continued, "Trust me when I say this, blueberry, I'm just about sure EVERYONE knows that there ain't a lazy bone in ya body!" and Dedede was painfully right, he really didn't.

Escargoon slowly came out of the store, lugging five full bags of pastries. "Took ya long enough!" Dedede snarled,

"Sorry, sire, but what can you expect with a big order like this?" Escargoon sighed,

"Forget about that, get a load of this! Meta Knight says he's about to try to take a break!"

"Really?" Escargoon said, "Now, c'mon, you'll let him take time off but I still gotta put up with this?"

Dedede laughed, "I'm only gonna let him do it cause I wanna see how far he gets without doin' somethin!"

Dedede at this point was cracking up laughing, and Meta Knight was fed up. He wanted to explain it was a serious health issue that he needed to be addressed, but he didn't bother. Cause though he was his king, even he knew he was a fool.

Meta Knight turned back around and continued to walk off, he had someone else he wanted to see anyhow, someone he knew could help him.

Escargoon was still holding the heavy bags, "Okay, sire, can we get back to the castle now, holding these pastries is killin' me—OWWW!" Dedede whacked him on the head with his hammer, still crying laughing, "Shut up, Escargoon! Can't ya see I'm still having a moment here?"


	2. Meta's Mentor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirby and Meta fluff. Should've seen it coming. -v-

When the knight finally arrived at Kirby's half-circle home, he took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

No answer.

"Maybe he isn't home," the knight thought, but the puffs of smoke coming from the chimeny said otherwise.

He decided to knock again, there was an answer, but not the one he wanted.

"Poyo!" the muffled voice said irritably, something hit the door from the inside, and after that there was silence once more.

"Kirby, it's me." Meta Knight knocked once more, "I would appreciate it if you could help out with something."

The knight heard footsteps, and then the door flew open. Kirby stood there with his adorably angry face. But the minute he saw his mentor, his anger melted into happiness and his eyes twinkled. He waddled over and gave his teacher a warm hug. The knight chuckled and patted his head.

"May I come in?" Meta Knight asked,

"Poyo, poyo!" Kirby nodded with a smile. They both walked in, and the first thing Meta Knight noticed is that the place was embarrassingly a mess. The books on his shelf were on the floor, one was in the sink, the covers of his bed were on the floor, the TV had been separated from it's legs...it had genuinely looked like a tornado had hit the place.

Meta Knight couldn't help but ask, "Kirby...what happened here?"

Kirby cringed and peeped a small "puyo" knowing he had to tell Meta Knight what happened

He took a deep breath, and explained carefully in his own language. "Poyo, poyo poyo, pu-piyo." Kirby sighed,

"So...you got mad and...trashed your own home?"

"Poyo..."

Meta Knight took out Galaxia and gave him a gentle reprimanding hit on his head with the flat side, "That is no good, Kirby, you cannot lose your temper like that."

Kirby hung his head down in shame. Meta Knight felt bad for him and wanted to ask why he was mad, but he did not want to lose track of the reason he needed to see him.

Meta Knight took his hand and tilted the puffball's head up, "It's okay, we will address that further later, right now I have something very special to ask of you."

Kirby's eyes twinkled again, this time, even brighter. "How would you...like to be my mentor for the weekend?"

Kirby nodded his head, bursting with excitement "Poyo, poyo!"

"Wonderful. Now, this is a different kind of training I need you to help me with...I need you...to help me learn how to be just a bit more like you, there's something very special about you and I that I need to readjust to, only until tomorrow and the day afterward, I'll need your help."

Kirby's smile was so big you would've thought he had just found the biggest cake he's ever seen. He thought, "Wow! He wants to be...like me? Okay! Let's start now!"

Kirby pounced onto Meta Knight and began trying to take off mask, he attempted to loosen the strap to pull it off. He had done this a million times. It was only slightly harder with the knight's hands trying to pull him off.

"Kirby! Get off!"

"Puyo!~"

The knight eventually lost balance and fell backward. In this position, Kirby was able to successfully pull off his mask.

"Hmmmph." Meta groaned. His crystal white eyes, blue tuft of hair on his head, and pink cheeks highly differentiated from his deep, accented voice. Kirby squealed happily as he patted his patch of hair. "Sooooffttt!"

Meta Knight, albeit being mildly frustrated, couldn't help but chuckle, "Okay, mentor, I guess what you say goes now, right?"

"Poyoooooo!" Kirby said, now with a proud expression.

Meta Knight got up and wrapped himself around in his cape again. "Now, teach me the ways of your doing, I am curious to see what you will teach me."

Now, he wasn't implying he thought Kirby was necessarily lazy, but in his eyes he has always had the most carefree, wholesome, and whimsical personality out of anyone he could name in Dreamland. Was he still just a baby? Yes indeed. But that didn't deter Meta Knight much, he knew he needed this. And besides, Kirby got to spend a few hours of the day with his mentor, everybody wins, right? Nonetheless, he was willing to do it. After all, it was only just for the weekend.


	3. Training Session

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More. Fluff.

Kirby was searching his fridge for something while Meta Knight was patiently sitting on his bed. Kirby finally closed the fridge, and in his stubby little paws was Meta Knight's heaven on Popstar. A cold, creamy chocolate parfait, topped with whipped cream and graham cracker crumbs. Meta Knight gasped and froze for a second, he could even feel he was about to start drooling. But knowing he didn't have his mask on, he hid his mouth in his cape. "Hm..." he mumbled. He couldn't lie to himself, he wanted it. His eyes twitched, and just thinking about how delicious it would taste...But his self-control said no. So staying true to himself, he cleared his throat and held his head high as the puffball got closer. Kirby walked up to him and handed him the treat. "Poyo!"

"Kirby, how long have you had this?" Meta Knight said more monotone than he wanted it to come out. Not minding the tone in any way, Kirby rushed over to his calendar, used a marker to circle a day, then rushed it back to Meta Knight.

"Hm...so for about four days, huh?" Kirby nodded happily and smiled.

"So, why are you giving this to me?" he asked, Kirby replied in his broken English, "This! Yur trainenh!"

The knight was more used to understanding his Poyonese, and the child didn't speak the clearest English, so it took him just a bit longer to understand.

"Oh, this is a part of my training, you say.." the knight winced a little, "Thank you, Kirby, but all I need you to teach me is how to be a bit more relaxed, I must not indulge like this. I've already had my parfait for this year and I simply couldn't—"

"Poyo!"

"You're saying this is what you do to relax?"

"Mhm! Puyo poyo piyo!"

"And you're saying if this works for you, it'll work for me?"

"Mhm!"

That actually made sense to Meta Knight, cause he had to face it, he was a Kiridian too. They had similar pleasures, similar faces, similar...other things...the only way you could really tell the two apart was appearance and personality.

"Well, Kirby I don't think it's quite—"

He cut himself off there, Kirby looked confused, waiting for him to finish his sentence. The knight's white eyes turned green, (meaning he was in deep thought) and he sighed. His own resistance was exactly was what he was going to have to fight. Suddenly, he felt something he hadn't felt in a really long time, an urge. Irresistible urges were completely natural for Kirid kind, as when they saw food, the instinct was to inhale it, as demonstrated by Kirby. But since that urge was suppressed for a long time, it weakened over time. But if something appeals enough to their species, it'll strengthen again. Anyone who knew Meta Knight knew he loved parfaits. Especially after...the incident...

That's why he couldn't seem to take his eyes off it, he just stared at it, he watched as it melted, and melted, and melted. He barely ate anything in a day usually, if he ate at all that day. He never really saw the need since at this point he could easily maintain high energy without it. He got a little mad at himself for even thinking about it.

"Well, surely such a delight shouldn't go to waste." a voice in his mind said, tempting him, "Look at it, it's calling your naaaaame."

"Stop..." Meta Knight said out loud rather solemnly, responding to his thoughts. Kirby was getting a little confused. The knight started to sweat nervously, it was times like this that he wished he had his mask. It always got taken away at the most inconvenient times.

'Meeeeeeeetaaaa Kniiiiighhhht," the thought said, "Meeeeetaaaaa—,"

"Stop it! Fine already!" The knight shouted, Kirby backed away in fear. Finally back in reality, he noticed he frightened the young one. And isn't that just great? There was an awkward silence for about a minute. It was finally broken as Meta Knight cleared his throat.

"I-I...I apologize Kirby, I was just, uh...thinking out loud.." Meta Knight said, unable to come up with a better excuse, "I trust your judgement, and therefore I can make an exception this one time."

Kirby let out a relieved sigh. He was just glad Meta Knight was mentally okay. Meta Knight picked up the spoon, scooped up some of the dessert and put it in his mouth. He was the type that liked to savor the sweetness. Kirby looked a little confused, he thought the best way to do it was to inhale the whole thing, including the glass. But Kirby thought since Meta Knight, after all, was still his elder, so maybe it was just some kind of grown up thing he didn't understand. Regardless, he didn't want to end it there just yet.

Kirby picked up the blanket that was still on the floor and put it back on the bed. He climbed up and then wrapped the blanket around Meta Knight, despite him already having a cape.

"Hm?" Meta Knight peeped, "Thank you, Kirby but I—"

He cut himself off again. But this time just shortly afterward saying, "You know what? Mentor knows best."

Kirby was enjoying being the teacher, it was fun. Meta Knight was enjoying himself too, but this felt odd. Almost as if his entire knighthood was just completely dismissed during this time. He was just starting to feel like he truly was even a member of his own kind. But despite that, he wasn't quite feeling relaxed like he was ready to hibernate for the weekend, while it was only eve and Kirby already looked sleepy. As he finished his parfait, the knight decided it was best that he go and let Kirby get his rest for the night.

"Alright, Kirby, I believe I should go," Meta Knight got up off the bed, "we'll continue training tomorrow, okay?"

Kirby's eyes widened, "Noooooooooo!" Kirby whined, "Stay!"

"It's getting rather late..."

"Reeeeelax!" Kirby pleaded, "Piyo piyo pu-poyo!"

"I wish I could stay the night, but Sailor Dee is waiting at home for me, I'm sure. She must be expecting my return by now."

"Poyo! Please?" Kirby said with wide puppy-dog eyes.

Meta Knight was no fool now, the 'puppy dog eye' trick had no effect on him. But he did feel bad that Kirby didn't really get to spend time with him aside from training, and that was only about two hours out of the day. At the point it was at, it seemed he knew more about Kirby than Kirby knew about him. Though he clearly knew the puffball still liked him and was happy to see him, it couldn't possibly hurt to spend a bit more time with him.

With all that reasoning, Meta Knight succumbed to Kirby's plead, "Okay, I suppose I can stay here the night. But you sleep in the bed, you need the rest much more than I do." Though that was a bit ironic, Kirby was but a small child, the only survivor of the new generation of Star Warriors. He was concerned for his own health at the moment, yes, but he did value Kirby's health much over his own. He had lived his life, Kirby deserved to live his.

Kirby was excited, but he didn't like the thought of not being sure if his 'student' was comfortable enough and would get a good night's sleep. So he got a fluffy pillow and a towel and made a make-shift bed for him.

"Ah, thank you, Kirby." Meta Knight smiled, "I appreciate the favor,"

So, Kirby re-made his bed, the knight adjusted into his own.

"What am I going to tell Sailor Dee tomorrow?" he thought, "I'll just tell her I ended up staying the night, I'm sure she won't mind."

Kirby was already on his way to sleep, with his eyes closed, he quietly said, "Gudnaait..."

Meta Knight chuckled and replied, "Goodnight, Kirby."

The lights went off, and that was the night.

For Kirby.

Meta Knight could still not sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually have some weird cringe stuff to say, but I don't.


	4. Do (Nothing) or Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meta, unable to further fight insomnia, takes a walk and falls unconscious. He recognizes this as a sign that this is only getting worse.

It was that Saturday, four A.M, Meta Knight was still up and not showing any sign of tiredness in the slightest. It was very unlikely that he, of all people, would worry about something so much, but he was quite unnerved by the things he was contemplating. What would happen if the effect went on so long to the point where it was already really irreversible? What if he couldn't hibernate anymore? As long as he was still capable of fighting and training Kirby, he did not want to die. There was still so much he needed to learn. He tried to clear his head with other thoughts, but that one lingering possibility kept him thinking. He was searching for some way to keep his mind off of the worries, but how?...he decided since he could not sleep, he would try to clear his conscience by going out for a while, and enjoying nature. He put on his mask and grabbed Galaxia, which was in its bronze case engraved with his insignia, before leaving. "It's just to be safe." he murmured, he told himself he'd return home before the sunrise. As he left, the thoughts seemed to be overpowered by less important stuff already, the main thing on his mind was " After yesterday, I think I would like another parfait." Empty thoughts like that one made him feel a little better, the fresh air and vibrant nature also contributed. He figured that if he couldn't have a full-blown adventure, he'd just have a nice walk instead, cause what harm could that do? For once in a while, he actually felt, content. He always knew he was happier by himself at times, doing what he likes to do without anyone wanting to tag along. This, you see, this is what made him feel relaxed.

It all felt fine until he started to feel dizzy and lightheaded. He supposed this was a sign he should head back to Kirby's house now. He tried to move, but he found himself paralyzed. He started seeing flashes of pitch-black at random intervals, the world around him was a blur, and he started to hear ringing that reminisced a concussion's. This wasn't his first time having this reaction, he's been going through it for two weeks, but it had never gotten this bad to where he couldn't even move. He knew it usually would pass if a few minutes went by without him passing out, so he resisted the urge to faint. But unlike every other time, he couldn't do it for long. He lost his balance and fell over, afterwards, there wasn't another thought, just pitch black.

Four hours after he fainted, he woke up, back in his own apartment. Confused, he sat up with only three questions in his mind: "What happened?", "Why am I back home?", and "Why the hell is there toilet paper wrapped around my head?"

"Sailor Dee...?" he called groggily. Immediately afterward, he heard the sound of not only her rushing footsteps but seemingly someone else's moving more slow-paced steps as well. The door flew open as his excited sailor cried out "Commander!"

She jumped on the bed and gave him a big hug. being too confused for words, he just awkwardly patted her back. Trudging in behind was his tired student. Kirby at the time looked like he only wanted to do two things; eat and sleep. But somehow, he had made his way all the way over to the castle in search for him. Meta Knight was alarmed that he was even awake today. Kirby just quietly stood there, giving a sad pout. Not even remembering he had taken a walk, but remembering that he promised he would stay the weekend with Kirby, the explanation as to why he was even out of his house to begin with was going to be really confusing.

"Mena, say he stay, but...Mena...no stay..." Kirby drawled, "Why?"

At a loss of words, he stared quietly, waiting for the question to be dismissed or for something to happen that distracts him from that question, giving him a reason to not answer it. But to no avail did that happen. He never wanted to admit he genuinely didn't know what happened in a situation like this, as back in a time he lived in that was more merciless, that could get you slaughtered.

The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

"Sir?" the sailor meekly said. Meta Knight seemed very distant.

The knight gave a delayed response, "Hm?"

"Kirby asked a questio—"

"Noted." Meta Knight irritably interrupted. "I...I don't exactly have an answer to his inquiry."

"So...you don't remember passing out in the plaza or anything? I noticed you didn't come home, and it was almost five in the morning so—"

"Why were you up at five in the morning?"

"Cause you trained me to stay up until five all the time I was on the Halberd, and I'm also not the one with some kind of crazy hibernation schedule that I kept hidden from you for year—"

"Sailor Dee, focus." Meta Knight said calmly, "We can have a further discussion about that later."

Sailor Dee knew she was getting out of line, so she dismissed that out of due respect. But above all though, she was not just a bit salty, but very salty that her own commander hid this from her for pretty much the entirety of the time they worked together. She knew it was because he knew that if he told her any earlier, she would've pleaded him to not go out and 'risk his life' for the thrill of it every single weekend. As matter of fact, she would've thought he should've been too tired to do so all those weekends. But since she was quickly losing her place she continued.

"...Right! Uh...I suspected you were still at Kirby's house, so I decided to take the route you'd usually go to get to his house!" she explained, "Well, could you imagine my surprise when I found you unconscious in the middle of the plaza. I was shocked! Heartbroken almost! I was hoping that the training you and Kirby did would've worked—"  
She stopped herself again and looked at the child's glum expression. "Oh, dear."

"Mee tu." Kirby let off in a disappointed tone. Meta Knight might've seemed mysterious and apathetic to others, but he was definitely not heartless, he felt bad for Kirby. He was only trying his best being a toddler.

"It's alright, Kirby." Meta Knight assured, "After all, it was only a few hours. Nothing like this happens overnight. It takes time and patience. So much so, that maybe I'll even...extend the period we do this...will that make it better?"

Kirby let out the quietest squeal. He gave a bright smile, even in his exhaustion.

As Kirby's smile never failed to warm the knight's heart, his eyes shone blue in happiness. "Though, you seem tired today. Why don't we rest here instead?" the knight suggested, Kirby nodded and murmured "Okey." he climbed up on Meta Knight's bed and closed his eyes.

With Kirby out the way for the time, Meta Knight looked at his crewmate, "As for the unconscious part, you know I told you things like that had been happening recently."

"Right, but, I've never seen you passed out from the occurrence before."

"This means things must be getting worse," Meta Knight solemnly said, "I have to be extremely serious about this now, I sense that if I continue on like this, the end could be drawing much closer than you think."

Sailor Dee gasped, "I-is there anything we can do...?"

"In the end, this will all draw back to the one solution, I must be idle and, as everyone here as ever told me, "loosen up a bit". Everyone else in Dreamland finds it so very easy to be lazy, so why can't I?"

"Cause it's...kinda...just not naturally who you are...?" she said sheepishly, "And who could forget the time you—"

"Yes, yes, I know, tried to take over the entirety of Dreamland to end the people's lazy lifestyle, blah, blah, blah." Meta sighed, "But this isn't the time to focus on the past, for this is becoming bigger than just "for a weekend" kind of thing. Because even if I do pick it up quickly, I could sleep for months, or on a more pessimistic perspective, years. You're talking centuries of sleep I've missed."

"And you didn't bother to tell me any of this before you left out yesterday?!"

"I did not want to worry you with a bunch of things so quickly!"

"Well, I was just really concerned yesterday, but now when you tell me all this today, now I'm just, you know, casually FREAKING OUT!"

"And rightfully so," Meta Knight sighed, "But you must pull it together while there is still hope."

"You're right..." she said as she began to calm down, "So...allow me to ask again...what can I do to help here, if anything?"

"I'll still be active, yet idle for, hopefully only a week or shorter. You play the most important role here, you take charge of the apartment. Don't worry about me for the most part, once I get the ability of hibernation back, the most you'll need to get for me is food."

"Food? But...you don't eat a lot?"

"Every creature has some sort of craving, but Kirdian cravings are by far the hardest cravings to resist. During the time, I'll wake up for food a lot of times during the day, if I call your name, I only want something to eat and nothing else."

"That is crystal clear, sir, but...what about the king if he needs you to do something about...whatever?"

"Let him know that due to profound health problems, I must be AWOL for an indefinite period of time."

"Okay, as for Kirby? You said you would let him "teach" you for a while longer?"

"As for Kirby, he will stay until I get my ability back. Afterward, I wish you escort him home and tell him he's done a great job at teaching me, and his training regarding swordfighting is delayed until further notice."

"Understood!" Sailor Dee chirped, "I'm going to let the king know what's going on before anything else, but before I go, is there anything you need?"

"Yes, give me a book from my shelf, I'm in for a long week and there are many new additions in there, so, surprise me."

Sailor Dee climbed the ladder and got a book out of the bookshelf. She skimmed through the pages and giggled before giving it to Meta Knight. like if she'd already read it before.

"I think you'll enjoy this one, the girl falls in love with a vampire." she winked.

Meta Knight read the title and analyzed the familiar summary, "Wait a minute! This is that weird romance novel you like, isn't it?!"

Sailor Dee started crying laughing, "Sorry, sorry, I just wanted your reaction...you want me to get another one?"

Meta Knight snickered a little, "You know what, I'll read this one just for a quick laugh."

"Okay, then, I'll be back soon," she said,

"Wonderful. See you in a while. Be careful with the king. If he knows Kirby's here, he might try to clobber him." Meta Knight deadpanned.

"Alright, I won't say a word about him."

"Oh! And one more thing."

"Yes, commander?"

"Why in the world did you wrap toilet paper on my head?"

"Uhh, the closest thing we had to bandage paper, I honestly didn't know..."

"You're fine, just don't...don't do that again..."


	5. Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meta makes progress in his attempt to rebalance his hibernation cycle.

The day seemed to just drag on, cloudy and dull. Meta Knight was just lying in his bed, contemplating what to do next, but really, there is nothing to do next. Reading a book in his spare time was the best source of entertainment regarding relaxing he could think of, but even that got tiring after a while.

He started to think deeper on how long he would be sleep if he hibernated. When he thought of this, he couldn't help but think of some kind of Sleeping Beauty twist; staying in a deep slumber for a long time, but the twist is, he stays asleep and nothing can wake him up. Nova knows what could happen in the span of a whole century. What would become of Dreamland without him? Would Kirby be able to take on any threat that came upon him? Could the world as he knew it simply collapse before him and there was nothing he could do to save it? You know, those are just everyday, normal thoughts for him. He wanted to stop thinking on the negative but he couldn't. Things like this weren't simply going to be dismissed around him. This was a serious fate that would be met if he didn't do someth—

Oh? The knight noticed that Kirby's eyes started to peep open. This was unusual. He shouldn't have been waking up twice today. Meta Knight assumed Kirby would quickly just fall back asleep, so he paid no mind to it. That is until he heard, "Mena?" the child sat up and rubbed his eyes with his tiny paws.

"Kirby, now's not the time for you to be up." Meta Knight said calmly, "Aren't you still tired?"

"Food." Kirby exhaustedly replied, "Hungry."

That made more sense to Meta now, he was just up for some food. He didn't want to get out of the bed and risk something happening, but he wanted to make sure Kirby's hunger was satisfied, as it was highly important during this time, especially for a baby Kiridian. Though they ate less than the adults on hibernation dates due to eating so much during the week, it was still vital for them to have at least a few meals on these days. Meta Knight figured the best thing to do was to wait for Sailor Dee to come home and ask her to prepare Kirby some food.

"We must wait for Sailor Dee's return first because..." Meta Knight knew explaining to the child a serious matter such as the things he's going through wouldn't do any good, so he simplified an explanation to something he could easily understand, which was "Mena no feel so good."

Kirby looked like he wanted to accept that as an answer, but words didn't satisfy his hunger. "Kaabii! Me! Hungry!"

Meta had two reasonable excuses as to why he could not feed Kirby. One of them being he obviously needed to be idle, another being, he really can't cook well. He's probably given himself a bad case of food posioning more times then he could count. He wondered if there was some sort of snack lying in the cabinets he could give to Kirby to keep him quiet for a short moment, at least until Sailor got back. Without a second thought, he got up from the bed. "Wait here, I'll get you something, okay?"

"Puyo..."

"It's just to get him a snack," he thought, "It's not like I'm being overly active or such. I'm just being a good host."

He walked into the kitchen, got on a tall stool, and opened the cabinet. It was dusty and barren, cobwebs forming inside of it. Okay, so, now he had three excuses, Meta Knight never ate anything, therefore he never went grocery shopping. Occasionally, Sailor Dee would, but she wouldn't get many things. Meta Knight adjusted her during their time on the Halberd to eat one thing in the morning, and eat one thing in the night. She mainly enjoyed yogurt, so he figured she wouldn't mind if he took a cup to feed to Kirby. He checked the fridge to see if she had hopefully left one, and she did! There was one more in the back of the fridge. He took the yogurt and left out the kitchen without a spoon because the utensils were made of real bronze and sliver, and were also some kind of heirloom of Sailor's family—which he thought was a rather boring one at that—and Kirby...well, since he didn't get the hang of consistent table manners just yet, Meta feared Kirby would just inhale the spoon, the cup, and the yogurt itself. So it was in both their best interest to just let him have the yogurt by itself.

Meta Knight came back in the room, where Kirby was overdramatically laying on his side like he hadn't eaten in days. "P-poyo..."

Knowing the child was just being silly, Meta laughed and got back in the bed. He was glad that he made it back fine. But he swore to himself that was it, no more.

The knight removed the cover from the yogurt, "Here you like yogurt, don't y—" Before he could complete that sentence, Kirby started inhaling. Out flew the yogurt into his mouth as well as his cup.

"I knew it." Meta Knight snickered.

Without another "poyo", Kirby flipped to the other side and eased back asleep.

Meta Knight settled back into the bed. He looked at the time, it had been almost two hours since she left. He knew the king had a tendency to drag on with specific subjects, but certainly not for that long. He did not start to worry though, he assumed she had something extra to do.

And the room was silent yet once again, until three minutes later, Kirby woke up again, "Mena?"

"Yes, Kirby?"

"Why you no sleepy like me still?" Kirby asked, "Mena sleepy too?"

"As I said earlier, I am not quite to your mastery level of...tranquility yet." he replied, "I have to...I mean, we have to work on it some more, it will take some time."

Kirby jumped up with a sudden burst of energy and waddled over to Meta Knight on the lumpy bed,

"Kirby? What are you—"

"Lesson!" Kirby chirped,

"No, you need to back to sleep, you've worked hard all week and today you must rest." Meta Knight said. Kirby gave a face that implied he was trying to be menacing, but just ended up looking very cute. "I teacher!"

Meta sighed, "Kirby, I simply will not allow you to..."

Kirby looked irritated, and Meta Knight could see it. He didn't forget what he agreed to, though he knew that above this situation he was still Kirby's mentor. But, since Meta Knight knew Kirby was more likely irate during this time, he figured the least he could do for now was play along and follow his little lesson, just to cheer him up, burn off this sudden burst of energy, and tire the child out again.

"...You were saying something, mentor?"

Kirby's sweet smile showed itself once again. He reached for the knight's mask, but knowing what was about to happen, he quickly assured him, "No, no!...I'll do it myself."

Meta Knight took off his mask again and set on his nightstand.

"Good, good, Mena!" Kirby praised, "Poyo, poyo pi!"

"Lay down? Alright." Meta Knight found a comfortable position and laid on the pillow, "What now?"

Kirby inhaled some air and puffed up to fly over to the light and turn it off. When he got back to the bed, he released the air and plopped back down onto the bed. Shortly afterward, he started to sing a lullaby softly out of tune.

Despite it being sung out of tune, Meta recognized the lullaby his pupil was trying to sing. It was a very old one, it was one that caretakers of young Star Warriors would sing to their children before they placed them into their starships. He was quite surprised Kirby even remembered that the lullaby was sang to him at all.

What an observation the knight found that to be, as the townsfolk thought Kirby to be forgetful and bliss. Yet, when he was left alone with someone who doesn't set his expectations low simply because he's a child, he acted a bit more mature than he was, and he could remember things from way back. For a Kiridian child, remembering a whole melody that was sung to him vaguely during his infancy and never sung to him from that point there on, that was considered quite remarkable.

Meta didn't expect to get a nostalgia trip, but it's what he got, and he was starting to become very...very...soothed by it.

He quietly sang along with Kirby, and once the child noticed, Kirby stopped and asked, "Mena know too?"

"Ah, yes, this one was very known during my time." Meta smiled, "I'm surprised you know it."

"Kaabii favorite!" Kirby cheered.

"Hm, you don't say." Meta Knight chuckled.

Kirby continued singing, and soon enough, Meta Knight started to feel his eyes droop, his whole body just seemed to feel completely unwound. Was this it? Was he finally getting tired?

He knew it wasn't hibernation tiredness, sadly, as the urge to fall asleep would be much more intense if it was. But it was a good start for him, this would be the first snooze he had in months. Meta yawned, much to Kirby's surprise. The puff's eyes twinkled. "Mena get sleepy?"

Meta Knight replied, "Yes, Mena getting very sleepy."

"Mena go night night?"

"Indeed," Meta Knight said as he yawned again, "Goodnight, Kirby."

"Gudnait, Mena!"

Kirby didn't fall asleep just yet, but Meta seemed to already be fast asleep. Kirby looked at the knight proudly. He was so happy that his training was actually working! He was finally starting to truly feel like a mentor.

The front door opened and in came Sailor Dee with a huge haul of grocery bags. After her talk with the king, she decided she wanted to come prepared with food for her commander's hibernation, so she went to the store, and got every delicious-seeming thing she could find, including a couple of parfaits.

"Commander, I'm home!" she chirped, "Sorry for the wait, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with this!"

Sailor Dee put down the groceries and went into Meta Knight's room, when she opened the door, she gasped as she saw the knight fast asleep. She also noticed Kirby was awake.

"Kirby, did...did you put Meta Knight to sleep?" she asked quietly,

"Mhm!" Kirby affirmed.

"Wow! So your training really is working!" she beamed, "You're being such a big help! Thank you!"

Sailor Dee pat Kirby on the head, then she glanced back over at Meta Knight. "Aww, he looks so peaceful!"

"Kaabii sing Mena a lullaby!" Kirby smiled,

"Oh!...did you now?" Sailor asked in surprise, well aware of Kirby's tone-deaf tendency. "That's, uhm, one way to do it...!"

"Poyo!" he nodded.

"Well, I did have something to tell him, but I'm sure it can wait until tomorrow!...if he's not...hibernating...oh my NOVA, is he hibernating already?!"

Kirby was confused, he didn't know what Kiridian hibernation was just yet, he just knew he got sleepy on days like this.

"Oh my, oh my goodness!...I hardly had time to prepare!" she panicked, "Uhh, what to do...what do you do next, Sailor, what now?!..."

Kirby tilted his head confusedly. "Puyo?"

"Y-you're right, I need to calm down..." she couldn't actually understand him like Meta could, but it's what she assumed he said. "I-I'll be out in the living room if you need me."

"Okey!" he smiled,

"Alright, I'll see you in a while, I guess...let me know if Meta Knight wakes up, or something..."

"Poyo!"

Sailor Dee walked out of the room, with a lot of things she needed to process.


End file.
